


Sincerely, Yamaguchi Tadashi

by Andramion



Series: Zine works [10]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Coming of Age Ceremony, Gen, self-reflection i suppose, time capsules
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:49:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28211925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andramion/pseuds/Andramion
Summary: After his Coming of Age ceremony, Tadashi looks at the years past, and the ones to come.
Series: Zine works [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/907608
Comments: 5
Kudos: 7





	Sincerely, Yamaguchi Tadashi

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Shooting Star - A Yamaguchi Tadashi Fanzine.

“Are you going straight home?”

Tadashi grabs his mum’s purse from under the chairs and straightens up to look at Tsukki. Their parents are near the exit of the municipal hall, animatedly chatting about the coming of age ceremony now that it’s finished.

“I think so,” Tadashi replies and he taps Tsukki with the corner of the purse, pointing it down the row of seats. He follows behind Tsukki as he turns around to leave the aisle. “How come?”

He watches Tsukki shrug, his shoulders pulling at the fabric of his dark grey kimono in the movement. Tadashi had thought he’d probably look silly coming to the ceremony in a kimono, opting for the suit he used while applying for part time jobs instead. He wonders, if he’d gone for it after all, would he be pulling it off as effortlessly as Tsukki is?

“Do you remember those letters they had us write in primary school?” Tsukki asks him, making a vague gesture with his hand. It takes Tadashi a moment to realise what he means.

“The time capsule ones? Wow, that’s a throwback.”

They reach the end of the row and Tsukki waits a moment before walking towards the exit next to Tadashi. “I believe the school still has them. Didn’t they tell us we’d get them back after our coming of age ceremony?”

“Ah. You’re right.” Tadashi rubs his thumb over the faux leather of the purse while he tries to recall what their teachers had said at the time. “Do you think we can drop by the school now?” He looks at his brand new watch, a gift from his parents for today. “It’ll probably be around lunch break by the time we get there, so I don’t think we’d be disturbing any classes. Oh man, that makes me wonder if Morikawa-sensei still works there.”

Tsukishima nose wrinkles at the mention of their old art teacher who always told him to draw something other than dinosaurs, but he nods all the same. “Let’s tell our parents.”

* * *

Late that evening, after calls from his aunts and uncles, and after his grandparents have gone back to their own home, Tadashi sits at his desk in his childhood bedroom and thumbs over the seal of the slightly yellowed envelope he picked up earlier.

They’d been right - their old primary school was open when they arrived, the yards flooded with children playing in the snow that had fallen that morning. It had been a little awkward to walk over to the front door with all those stares on them, but their fifth-grade teacher had invited them in when he recognised them. Walking past their old classrooms, the desks and chairs so much smaller than he remembered, Yamaguchi couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of nostalgia wash over him. He didn’t really want to go back there, and he hadn’t particularly enjoyed the bigger part of his primary school years, but he remembered running through those hallways and staring at the cicadas chirping from his desk by the window as summer’s early morning light washed over him.

They’d found the box of letters stacked on top of a high bookcase in the teachers’ offices, neatly labelled but near-forgotten. Tsukki had pulled it down easily and, after sifting through the envelopes to find their own, they’d made stilted small talk with their old teacher for a while before heading home.

Now Tadashi rummages through a desk drawer to find a pair of scissors, and carefully slides one side under the seal flap to tear the top. Inside, there’s a letter, a few stickers and a pokemon card that was Tadashi’s favourite. He carefully unfolds the paper, laughing at his 10-year-old self’s handwriting.

* * *

July 8th, 2007

Hello!

This is Yamaguchi Tadashi and I’m 10 years old! But you probably know that. The teachers said we should write a letter to ourselves for 10 years in the future so I’m writing one now.

I have to hand in my letter tomorrow and I wanted to finish my letter earlier but I got a little nervous. I don’t know what you’re like at all, older me.

I made a friend this year. A proper friend, not like Hachiro and Hirotaka and Masashi! He doesn’t make me carry his bag, or tell me I can only like the things he likes, or anything like that! (Although he does keep saying that strawberry flavour is better than chocolate, which it definitely is not!) Tsukki is not the most friendly person, probably, but I think he’s a good person either way!

When I went to look at the volleyball club at the ~~muncip~~ municipal gym Tsukki was there and he’d helped me before when the others were being mean. So! I joined the volleyball club too! Tsukki’s brother plays volleyball too and he’s super good, but he’s really nice too and he showed me how to pass the ball. I think volleyball is really fun, but I think it’s probably even more fun because now I get to play with my friend!

I hope that you’re still friends with Tsukki. That would be really nice. I don’t know how long Tsukki wants to be friends but I hope it’s forever because I like being his friend! Are you still friends? Do you have other friends now?

My paper is almost full! I hope I become super cool and strong from playing volleyball and a super ~~relly~~ ~~rellai~~ reliable friend. (← dad helped with that kanji)

(I learnt this one in class last week →) Sincerely,  
Yamaguchi Tadashi  
10 years old

* * *

Tucked into bed, Tadashi struggles to decide whether the letter is sad or not.

For years, he’d been ‘friends’ with Hachiro and the others, had followed them around and done whatever they wanted him to do, all for a scrap of their friendship. Now he can see just how much he deluded himself back then, and wonders how kids can be so cruel.

But things had definitely started to get a lot better already back then. Tadashi smiles thinking of the excitement little him showed about volleyball, and about being friends with Tsukki. So much has changed in the last ten years, but at least that friendship has been a constant ever since.

Would things change this much again in the coming ten years? He’ll be thirty by then, will he have his dream job? More importantly, will he have figured out what his dream job is? Thinking about the next ten years makes his stomach fill with both anxiety and excitement.

Sighing, he kicks the blankets off his legs, pulls himself out of bed and turns on his desk lamp. It takes a bit of rummaging through his desk, but he finds an old notepad, and a pen that still works.

He finishes the letter in one go.

Then he folds it in three, closes it with some tape, addresses himself on the outside and tucks the letter away in his desk drawer along with the one from ten years ago. He yawns, stretches and taps his desk as he gets up again to walk back to his bed.

The blankets have cooled down again now, but Tadashi curls up under the duvet. Tomorrow, he’ll have to travel back to his dingy little apartment near college, start working on the essays that are due soon and make his way to his part time job for the evening. But for now, he’s content, cosy in his childhood bed with the sounds of home around him. He’s content, knowing that, even though he hasn’t figured it all out yet, he’s definitely made his ten-year-old self proud.

* * *

Monday January 9th, 2017

Dear 30-year-old Tadashi,

Today, I had my coming of age ceremony. I saw a lot of people from my primary school, and a few from middle and high school, in the municipal hall. The mayor talked for a while, about what it means to be an adult and contribute to society as one. Do you still remember Shiori-chan from primary school? I should probably say Maita-san now. She did a great job as our yearmates’ representative. I really liked her speech, how she encouraged us to… how did she say it? Follow our dreams with childlike wonder, the courage of our teens and the wisdom of age.

It reminds me of how Kageyama, Hinata, Yachi and even Tsukki are following their dreams. What are you doing now? Do you enjoy your daily life? Have you found a job that makes you happy, or some other purpose I don’t know about yet?

Tsukki and I picked up the letters we wrote back in fifth grade, and it was a little… well, it sure was something to read. I really did follow Tsukki around a lot back then, huh? I kind of wish that I could go back and talk to myself from back then. Tell him that he’s made a friend for life. That he’ll make more of them during high school. That he’ll not only get good at volleyball, but become someone the team can depend on. That everything is going to turn out just fine.

You know, there’s a hundred things I worry about every day, but after reading this letter… I can imagine myself where you are now, reading this letter and wishing you could go back ten years to tell me to relax as well. It’s reassuring.

I’m going to work hard and try my best. I’m going to make sure that our ten-year-old self can be proud of you too. I know that I’ll be.

(and this time I didn’t even have to look it up, 10-year-old me cheated →) Sincerely,  
Yamaguchi Tadashi  
20 years old

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you really enjoyed it!  
> To check out the full zine, please have a look at @zine_yamaguchi on twitter.
> 
> Of course, I would be delighted if you left me a comment to tell me what you thought!


End file.
